Rotary valve.



1. C. HOFF.

"ROTARY VALVE.

APPLICATION men SEPT. u. |915.

Patented June 27, 1916.

J. C. HOFF.

ROTARY VALVE.

APPucATxoN FILED SEPT. l1, 1915.

Patented Jim@ 27, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- A mum expenditure of time.

,j JAcoB'c. Horn, or JEFFERSON-VILLE, INDIANA.

ROTARY VALVE'.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pgfnted Jun@ 275 1916.

Application led September 17, 19215. Serial No. 51,194.

To all whom it' may concern.'

Beit known that 1,'JACOB C. Herr, a

citizen of the vUnited States, residing at Jeffersonville, in the countyof Clark and State of Indiana, have invented certain Anew. andusefulImprovements in Rotary Valves, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention has for an object the improvement of rotary valves with aView especially to their application in internalcombustion engines,it-being one of the principal aims to simplify the inlet and exhaustconnections and the driving connections.

It isalsc an aim to simplify the mounting of the valve proper and toenable the manufacture of the parts at a low cost, as well as to enabletheir assembly with a mini- It is a further purpose to enable theformation or mounting of a gear directly upon the valve close to theengine cylinder without liability of damage to the gear by heat.

Additional objects, advantages, and features of invention will appearfrom the construction arrangement andl combination of parts hereinafterset forth and shown in the drawings, where4 Figure 1 is a fragmentaryvertical cross section of a cylinder of an .engine equipped with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal. section of the valve. Fig. 3 is adetail of the valve proper. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the cylinderhead and valve.

-The type of engine to which the invention is adapted in the presentcase is the four,- cycle reciprocating piston type operating a crankshaft. y,

There is illustrated a cylinder 10 of a familiar type, which may be oneof a number cast en bloc, in the present case, such as Would be closedby a removable cylinder head. A cylinder hea-d 11 is shown secured uponthe cylinder in the usual manner. This head is planed centrally andprovided with a port 12, the length of which is a little less than thediameter of the cylinder spaced a little from the axis of the cylinder,prefer'- ably parallel to the crank shaft of the engine, upon which thecylinder may be mounted, the details of the engine notbeing shown. Byspacing the port to one side more room is gained for introducing thespark plug 13 into the cylinder head, the plug being shown as inclinedoutwardly at its upper part, av

suitable boss 14l having a diagonal tapped hole belng formed on the headfor the in* troduction of the plug. A

Secured by suitable bolts 16 on the planed face of the head-there lis avalvecasing 15.

In a multiple cylinder engine 'the casing may extend over all thecylinders. It is a simple casting having a` cylindrical bore 17therethrough stopping at a` shoulder 18 adjacent what will be known asthe exhaust end, from which point a slightly reduced passage 19 extendsthrough the end of the casing. vThe ends of the casing are planed, andit is provided with a footing or base 20 through which the fasteningbolts 16 are engaged with the head 11. An exhaust pipe 21 may be securedto the exhaust end of the casing in registry with the passage 19, whileat the opposite end, the casing is provided with a peripheral flange 22at theupper part tp which 1s secured an inlet and retainer fitting 23.The casing is shown as constructed for a two-cylinder engine, and

has ports 24 therein to aline with those of the cylinder head all ofwhich are located 1n the same position as shown at 12in Fig. 1, in eachcylinder.

t Engaged revolubly in the casing 15 there 1s a valve member 25,abutting snugly against the shoulder 18 at its inner'end, and fittingsnugly in the bore 17 throughout its length, the outer end of the valvestopping vat the inlet'end of the casing at its outer or peripheralpart, while an extension is formed thereon having beveled gear teeth 26cut thereon, by which Ithe valve is to be driven, as will be described.The valve is formed with comparatively thin 'cylindrical walls forthemajor part of its length, gradugl ally thickened adjacent' the inletlend to form a proper body for the gear portion of the Valve, but stillleaving a passage way 27 of a suitable diameter for the admission of gasto the engine. Two parallel longitudinal walls 28 are formed within thevalve, extending from one side to the other, to each of which they areintegrally joined. These walls stop short of the inlet end of the valvea distance, and have a transverse closing partition 29! thereacross.Their' opposite ends stop immediately adjacent the inner haust end,while the Space outwardly of these walls is in communication with thepassage way 27 but insulated from the space between by the partition 29.At diametrically opposite positions, inlet ports 3l are formed in thevalve opening from the spaces 32 at the outer sides of the walls 28, andspaced longitudinally of the valve for alternate registry with therespective ports of the casing` 15. Similar exhaust ports 33 are formedin the yvalve at opposite sides of the space 34 between the walls 28,also arranged to register with respective ports in the valve casing.'AThe ports 31 are spaced with their advanced sides on radii of the lvalveapproximately ninety degrees from the radii of the corresponding sidesof the ports 33 at the same ends of the valve, the exhaust portsbeing inadvance of the inlet ports in the direction of rotation of the valve.This relation may be slightly varied in accordance with the well knownprinciples of timing valve actions in such enl gines.

The retainer fitting 23 is formed with a Vcentral duct portion 24centrally thereof having an inner part 25 engaging snugly through theopening in the gear portion of the valve, a shoulder 34 being formed onthe valve against which this duct engages, by which the valve is heldagainst longitudinal movement. The outer part of the duct is formed inany Well known manner for engagement with a gas supply pipe.Intermed'iately of the duct a frusto-conical base is formed, bolted tothe iange 22 of the valve casing, and serving. to inelose the gearportion of the valve as well as to retain the valve in place and Iforman inlet connection. The outer part of the duct may be abruptly turnedas at 36 in order to facilitate making connections with a carbureter orthe like. The base 35 l.has an opening 37 at its lower part lthroughwhich projects a portion of a beveled gear 38, carried on a verticalshaft, 39, whichvis preferably mounted on the forward side of thecylinder in such a way as to permit the valve casing to be removedwithout dismounting the gear 38 or its shaft.

The lports of the valve may be of a width to include a radius of fortyfive degrees, and the erts of the casing may be of a like widt 1. Thelength of the ports of the valve and casing may be the same as thelength of the ports in the .cylinder head. 1t is thought desirable,however, that the exhaust ports be a little greater in radius, in orderthat an early exhaust may be attained provision for this being indicatedat 40 in Fig. l.

The passage of the charges through the gear portion of the valve willprevent this part from becoming over-heated, so that it will retain itstemper and hardness, obviating liability of frequent renewal. The formof construction provided enables the prediletion of the mechanism inanvextremely compact form, the simplicity of the driving connect-ionsbeing obvious.

The connections with theshaft 39 for operating the gear 38 may be of anyfamiliar type, preferable by beveled two-to-one gears on the crankshaftof the engine and on the lower end of the shaft 39, wherebythe valvewill make one turn to two revolutions of the crank shaft. The valve istimed so as to close Vthe exhaust over a given cylinder just as thepiston therein reaches the outer limit of the scavenging stroke. Thecutoff portion 41 between the mutually adjacent exhaust and inlet portsis of a width to permit opening of the inlet port of the valveimmediately after closing of the exhaust. That is to say the distancebetween the two ports is just about the same as the width of the port inthe casing. The operation of valves with the same principle beingfamiliar, it is believed unnecessary to describe in detail the cyclicaction of the engine, it being suii'icientl remaining closed duringthecompression and working strokes.

That is claimed:

1. A rotary valve member for the use described comprising a cylindricalouter wall, parallel longitudinal planiform walls joined to oppositesides thereof forming a middle passage and two passages without theparallel walls within said cylindrical wall, two opposite ports beingformed through t-he cylindrical wall between said parallel walls,opposed ports being formed in theV cylindrical Wall without saidparallel-walls, said lastnamed walls stopping short of one end of thecylindrical wall, a closing end piece between the parallel walls at saidend, and closing walls between the said parallel walls and thecylindrical wall at the opposite end of the valve.

2. In an engine ofthe character described, a plurality of parallelcylinders, a crank shaft, pistons reciprocable in the cylinders andoperatively connected to the shaft, said cylinders having a head, avalve casing on the head having a passage therethrough circular in crosssection and disposed transversely of the cylinders immediately adjacenttheir axes, a longitudinal port being of said passage, inlet and exhaustports being formed in the wall in the same plane of rotation forsuccessive alinement with the irst named ports, the exhaust ports beingdiametrically spaced, and the inlet ports being spaced 90 degrees moreor less therefrom, parallel longitudinal walls being formed in the valveapproximately alined with respective sides of said exhaust ports, thespace therebetween being closed at one end and open at the other,longitudinal spaces being left outside said parallel walls within saidouter wall, said last named spaces being closed at the end adjacent theopen end of the space between the parallel walls and 15 open at theirother ends, two-to-one operative connections between the shaft and thevalve, and separate duct connections at each y end of th;J valve.

In'testimony whereof have aflixed my 2o signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JACOB C. HOFF.

lVitnesses:

KATHARINE JACOBS, BENSON R. VEASEY.

